After dropping a disappointing 65-45 loss to Oakville Friday night, the Mehlville Senior High School boys’ basketball team hopes to bounce back this week against Kirkwood.

The Suburban West Conference game will take place at 7 p.m. Friday at Mehlville Senior High School, 3200 Lemay Ferry Road.

“Kirkwood’s well-coached and they like to switch up their defense,” Mehlville head coach Andy Guethle said. “They’re big and strong and we’re going to have our work cut out for us.”

Mehlville (2-3, 0-1 Suburban West) hopes to contain the Kirkwood duo of guards Brit-ton Schlotz and Max Artis.

Schlotz boasts 14 points per game this season while Artis averages 12 points per game.

The Pioneers are coming off a 62-59 loss against Marquette Saturday in the Webster Groves Tournament.

Against Oakville on Friday night, the Panthers fell behind 12-10 after the first quarter.

But it was the second quarter that inflicted the most damage on Mehlville as Oak-ville jumped out to a commanding 33-14 lead at halftime.

“We tried to put pressure on them and they handled our pressure well,” Guethle said of the Tigers. “We fell behind in the first quarter and had to come from behind to be down 12-10 at the end of the quarter.

“The biggest problem was that we just didn’t take care of the ball well enough to win.”

Oakville’s John Alexander led all scorers with a 20-point performance.

Oakville’s Garrett Reeg also scored in double figures with a 13-point showing.

Aaron Alexander led the Panthers with 15 points, eight rebounds, three steals and one assist.

“Aaron’s had a really good start to this year,” Guethle said. “We need for him to play well in order for us to be successful, but I’ve been really pleased with how he’s been playing.”

C.J. Washington of the Panthers scored 11 points with three rebounds, two assists and one steal.

“C.J. probably had his best game so far this year,” Guethle said. “He’s a very capable scorer and he showed that on Friday night.”